'X-Men' Star James McAvoy Says British 'Dumb Down' Their Movies for Americans

Days before his biggest film to date, 'X-Men: First Class,' opens, Scottish actor James McAvoy has criticized British filmmakers for "dumbing down" their films and "patronizing" Americans.

The actor told Sky News, "Do we make movies just for America? Yeah, of course we do. And yet it's never the movies aimed at America that do well."

He added, "We dumb our movies down because we want Americans to understand them. The Americans watch it and go 'This is a really unsophisticated, dumbed-down movie.' Why would we want this? Why do we like this? We don't. It's like we're patronizing them and shortchanging ourselves."

The actor, whose previous films include 'Atonement' and 'Wanted,' didn't name any names in his critique.

"It was a big responsibility," McAvoy commented about Vaughn's taking on the franchise. "The fifth 'X-Men' needs to be different. You can't keep putting out films with the same tone and vibe. I think this does that," he said of the prequel, which is set before the mutants split into two warring factions. "I think it's got a sense of humor that the other 'X-Men' movies have never had up till now."

'X-Men' is set in America and made under the American Fox Studios stamp, but was filmed at Pinewood Studios in the U.K.

"Filming this at Pinewood was fantastic because it was like the old 1950s studio," said McAvoy, who plays a young Charles Xavier in the film. "It was packed. I've never seen a studio that busy and I loved it. It's great everyone's working, but we kind of need to develop and work up our own stuff so that some of that money comes back into the British film industry."

What "dumbed-down" movies do you think McAvoy was talking about? Do you agree with him?